


Mega Man X: Plan B

by Scroog



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman Zero | Mega Man Zero, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types, Rockman | Mega Man Classic
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Exploration, Gen, Laboratories, Machines, Mystery, Robots, Self-Discovery, Time Skips, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:09:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28814682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scroog/pseuds/Scroog
Summary: When Zero awakens from a memory-error, he embarks on a secretive quest to find the meaning of this mysterious message.
Kudos: 8





	Mega Man X: Plan B

**Author's Note:**

> This is a what-if I made for fun, giving both Zero and a certain other character a bit more time to shine due to the gap in time between the Megaman X and Zero series. As such, liberties are taken due to it being a hypothetical bonus adventure.

Quite some time has passed. 

What was once a war-torn nation dealing with attacks from infected robotic beings called "Mavericks" is now a relatively peaceful center of massive technological leaps and bounds thanks to the advancements made in "Reploid" technology. Reploids are what the humans of this world call their robotic companions, and thanks to their newest-generation upgrades, they are virtually virus-proof. No longer having to deal with the constant threat that was the viral entity responsible for Reploids becoming Mavericks, "Sigma", the world was able to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

One such group was very thankful for this time of peace, the cherished Maverick Hunters, an organization of Reploids who excelled in combat, putting their lives on the line day in and day out to protect the masses from Maverick attacks. The most well known of the Hunters had to be the leading three "faces" of the organization. "X", a mysterious reploid with a seemingly infinite amount of potential, "Zero", a Maverick-turned-Hunter with exceptional close-combat capabilities, and "Axl", a prototype model of the newest generation Reploids. After many years of seemingly endless fighting, they finally earned their well-deserved rest during this era of peace.

Or at least, that would be true for two of them.

A strange laboratory decorated in vibrant colors and flashing machinery, yet also lacking in a proper light source, with the various monitors and screens being the only true things illuminating the area. A dark figure begrudgingly entered a capsule-like apparatus at the behest of a seemingly elderly man. Once inside, the figure's capsule was taken by a massive claw-like machine and placed elsewhere in the facility. The laboratory was now deafeningly silent, save for the soft sounds of the technology working in the distance and the occasional wheeze from the old man.

"This will be our little backup plan…"

These sudden words broke the silence, as Zero was now turned towards the old man. "While you are indeed my...final and greatest creation, in my years it has always been wise to have something else handy. Just in case." The old man began to laugh, only to cough heavily. "It is true I may not have much time left, but I have ensured that my work will NOT be forgotten. You two will ensure this."

Zero was awoken in a state of shock from his charging station. He had experienced another "memory error", or what he would call a nightmare. While he was what many would call "stoic", those final words shook the battle-hardened Hunter to the core. He knows he was created for nefarious purposes, yet he was able to be turned to the side of righteousness by means outside of his own control. Suddenly, Zero was snapped back into reality by a new directive prompt that appeared in his optic sensors.

[Order: Return To SDWB-07 Immediately For Retrieval Process]

At first, he tried to ignore this set of instructions. There couldn't be any others like him left, it was only him and him alone that the old man had created, right? However, if there truly was another one like him somewhere out in the world, they could cause truly cataclysmic damage if not dispatched of. Zero at one point was capable of matching his partner X, one of the strongest Reploids equipped with armor that boosted his capabilities to insane heights, nearly blow-for-blow unaided. If another one of his "line" was able to be activated, there was a chance they could overpower himself, X, and Axl with relative ease.

With little to no hesitation, Zero grabbed his trusted weapon, the Z-Saber, a blade made of concentrated plasma energy strong enough to cut through even the sturdiest of Mavericks with a well-placed slash, and made his way through Hunter HQ. He snuck his way into the Research & Development district, nabbing back his extra weaponry, and a little something extra, a prototype weapon, just in case. He thought of letting his teammates know where he was going, but decided against it. He didn't want any of his comrades to fall in battle against something his insane creator had made, especially not after all they had been through together. If he would meet his end on this mission alone, then so be it. After coming back from the brink so many times, Zero found it to be a comforting thought that the one thing that might be responsible for finally ending him being one of his own. He made his way to the dispatch bay, started up one of the empty Ride Chasers, a type of futuristic motorcycle, and quickly made his way out of HQ and onto the path laid out for him towards "SDWB-07".

The Ride Chaser let Zero reach the location fairly quickly, however, something was off. What he was staring at was nothing but a desolate wasteland, grown-over with local foliage! The directions on his optics confirmed this to be the correct area, but how could it with there being absolutely nothing in sight? Zero began surveying the area, looking for anything that could be considered an entrance. Suddenly however, the ground began to shake, startling the red reploid and dropping him to the ground. From inside his helmet, he heard a computerized voice.

[Robot Master Entry Data Accepted]

The shaking became more intense, the ground cracking underneath and all around Zero. Quickly, he leapt to his feet and dashed off towards higher-ground, unsure of what would happen next. Trees were violently swaying back and forth, birds and smaller mammals took flight and ran for safety as their home was now being torn apart by an unseen force. With a mighty crashing sound, the ground was finally starting to split open, with what looked like rusted metal beginning to emerge from underneath. Zero watched in awe, as a derelict castle in the shape of a skull pushed its way out of the Earth itself, towering over all beneath it. This had to be it, this was exactly what the directions were leading him to. He knew his creator was a mad genius, but to have an entire mechanized castle seemingly hidden and submerged in the very ground itself for nearly 200+ years and still have it function? This was insane, and Zero wanted nothing to do with the old man's schemes. With little thought, Zero grabbed his Z-Saber and activated it. A slick, green triangle forged from pure plasma appeared in a flash from the hilt, and with that, Zero rushed towards the castle's entrance.

Unsurprisingly, Zero was instantly attacked by the ancient machines that emerged with the castle. Acting quickly, the hunter used his saber to dispatch the ground units. He recognized quite a few of these models, many of them seeming to be the precursors of the current-day technology. Wall-mounted turrets capable of turning and firing in multiple directions, heavily armored fighter-drones protected from nearly every conceivable attack, and small, helmeted sentry robots that could hide to avoid damage. While this may have been considered a challenge back when the castle was new, thanks to Zero's experience and the Castle's age, these leftover defenders were able to be destroyed with ease. His Z-Saber made quick work of these threats, leaving them cut into pieces or exploded into many parts. With the immediate threat gone, Zero made his way towards the opening of the Skull-shaped castle, and walked inside.

Taking a step inside, Zero could not notice anything, as the room was caked with dust, debris, and a seemingly nonfunctional light system. The interior of the building seemed to be in even worse shape than the exterior, with broken machinery thrown about and semi-destroyed robots being able to be seen all around. Using his Z-Saber's plasma glow as a makeshift light, he began to explore the ancient laboratory. Unfortunately, the directions ended at the entrance, leaving him having to locate this supposed "Plan B" by himself. He wanted to contact one of the Hunter HQ's guidance specialists, The Navigators, for assistance, but he kept telling himself they would just end up worrying about him, or worse, give away their location to this potential large threat. As such, he began walking to whatever he could make-out in the darkness. From what he could tell, the floors and walls used to be very colorful and very deadly, armed with tons of traps and hostile machinery. Currently however, these dangers were off-line, seemingly destroyed by an unknown party. Maybe someone challenged the old man back when he was alive and made it all the way to the end of the castle? Zero wondered to himself, thinking of the many answers he had lost to time.

This train of thought was derailed as the ground cracked and caved-in underneath the hunter. His sudden appearance and assault outside the castle must have made the ground surrounding the area unstable, and he failed to realise that when looking around inside. It seemed like the entire top floor was crumbling down with him, as gigantic boulders and scattered pieces of machines came tumbling down. Acting quickly, he leapt from his currently-falling floor chunk and landed on another. He attempted this once more...only to be slammed by a pile of scrapped sentry robots. This caught Zero off-guard, as he was now trying to turn himself around to cut the clump of metal off of him before he hit the floor at incredible speeds! With a well-placed saber slice and a loud grunt, the debris was cut in two and he was freed! 

...Yet, something felt off.

Everything continued to fall for what Zero noted to be far too long. There couldn't possibly be this much hidden underneath the castle, right? He looked all around, trying to see if there was someway to land, yet nothing around him seemed to be making contact with the floor. He dashed and began leaping across the debris once more, taking extra precautions to avoid any other surprises. As he made his way forward, he thought he heard a strange noise. Something large was scuttling around in the dark.

A large red light pierced through the darkness, landing on Zero. At first, he thought it may have been a laser and prepared to deflect it back at the unseen foe, yet it appeared to only scan him. A new prompt appeared in his optics.

[Scanning...Retrieving Robot Master Entry Data]

Zero waited for the unseen scanner to register his code and deactivate whatever machine was altering this room's layout. The light remained on him for quite some time, the scuttling stopping while the process continued. With a loud beep, the red light vanished. Zero expected this to be confirmation of his passage and began to sheathe his saber. However, the scuttling noise began once again, but at an ever-increasing pace.

[ERROR. ERROR. SWN-0 HAS ESCAPED CHAMBERS. ERROR. ERROR.]

An error prompt suddenly popped up on Zero's feed once again, saying something about a special robot escaping it's chambers. Clearly it was talking about him, but why was it seemingly stating that this was an error? He was allowed in the castle before with the same code, yet this hidden machine somehow registered him as "escaped". The scuttling grew louder once more.

**"SWN-0 HAS ESCAPED CONFINEMENT CAPSULE. SWN-0 HAS ESCAPED CONFINEMENT CAPSULE."**

A booming mechanical voice blasted forth from the location of the scanning-light. It seemed like whatever this thing was, it wasn't happy with Zero's sudden appearance.

**"INITIATING RECAPTURE SEQUENCE. PROTOCOL SWN0-C4PTR3."**

Two bright red lights appeared in the darkness, with the scuttling noise getting closer and closer.

_ GASHNK, GASHNK, GASHNK. _

Zero began to make out what this machine was as it drew near. It looked like a dilapidated and rusting metal skull, propped up by mechanical spider-like appendages. The back of the skull seemed to be housing multiple machines, all still active. It was still semi-encrusted in rocks and underground foliage, making it appear as if it had become one with the Earth itself. The mechanical legs seemed to be powered by large pistons, allowing them to dig deep into the ground with every movement. Whatever this thing was, it was clearly the reason why this room was so big and why nothing seems to collide with the ground. 

"A mechaniloid? Down here? How old is this thing?", Zero thought to himself. "No matter, if it labels me as a threat, I better start fighting before it can enact this recapture protocol". Zero leapt from rock-to-rock towards the mechanical skull, getting ready to brandish his saber once more. The skull stood motionless, beginning to creak as something emerged from it's eye-sockets. Two large "eye-stalks" jutted from the openings, with red glowing orbs attached at the ends. The mouth snapped open, revealing two large, metal appendages with gigantic claws resting at the ends of them.

**"SDWB-UNIT SKULL CRAB ENGAGE."**

The "Skull Crab" crashed it's way towards Zero, barreling through the motionless debris as it's eye-stalks began shooting concentrated beams of heat towards the hunter. "So, you want to fight me head-on huh? Good, I was thinking all you could do was crawl on the wall like a bug!", Zero said aloud to the mechaniloid monstrosity. He wasn't worried in the slightest, he'd gone up against all sorts of mechaniloids before this one, and to top it off, it was ancient! This old piece of junk should be a breeze for a hunter such as himself! The two were about to collide, Zero readying his saber to slash at the Skull Crab's eyes...only for something on the Skull Crab's forehead to flash, sending Zero and the rest of the floating debris towards the side of the cavern.

This trick caught the hunter off-guard once again, being thrown extremely hard against the wall. " _ Grgh,  _ what WAS that?!" The Maverick Hunter barely had time to think, as he saw the Skull Crab clench a massive boulder in-between it's claws and toss it towards him at intense speeds. Zero slid down the wall just in time, with the boulder shattering overhead. Whatever this mechaniloid was, it could control the room's gravity with that thing on its forehead. Now focusing-in on the Skull Crab's forehead, Zero saw that the device was some sort of gauge-like apparatus, currently aimed towards the left. He reached into his back, pulling out a large cylinder-like attachment. "Good thing I brought you along.", Zero thought to himself. In a flash, the attachment had merged onto his armor. With the "Z-Buster", a long-range weapon known for its powerful plasma shots, now equipped, Zero prepared to fight the Skull Crab from a distance. The mechaniloid beast roared, readying it's eye-lasers once again.

It attacked quickly, it's eyes glowing red as thin streams of concentrated heat shot through them, slicing up pieces of the floating rubble. Zero had to maneuver himself on the wall, sliding and climbing the rubble that had been tossed his way. He continued to shoot his buster, yet the Skull Crab was just too mobile. Despite its size, those legs were able to move it quite far at a quick pace. It grabbed yet more boulders from around itself, throwing them at Zero, to which he dodged once again. Its legs creaked as it lurched downward, only to release a large amount of steam as it pounced towards Zero. It seemed as if his strategy of taking shots from a distance merely angered the beast, as it was now lunging directly at him. He attempted to draw his saber to slash at the gravity-control unit as it quickly drew closer, but as he was preparing himself, guage's dial changed once again, now aimed directly at the center. The piece of rock below Zero shook for a second, only to begin descending at a rapid pace. The Skull Crab changed the area's gravity, with everything beginning to fall downwards. Zero attempted to climb upwards to avoid crashing into the floor, but the mechaniloid was already right on top of him from its prior jump. With a loud  _ CRASH,  _ it landed on top of Zero with it's full weight.

The hunter screamed in pain, the sheer mass of the mechaniloid pinning him to the ground, even managing to crack apart pieces of his armor. He tried to push it off...but to no avail. Acting quickly, he shot at the gauge with his Z-Buster, the plasma shot breaking through the glass and heading directly into the Skull Crab's internal mechanisms. It creaked in pain, only for its piston-legs to begin repeatedly crashing into the ground. It was digging itself deeper into the falling rock, both speeding up the fall and further crushing Zero. Finally, with its gravity-control systems broken, the two finally made contact with the ground. The sound of metal scraping against metal rang out across the hidden lab where they landed, as Zero let out a final shriek before falling unconscious.

**"PROTOCOL C4PTR3 COMPLETE. STATUS REPORT: GRAVITY MODULE SEVERELY DAMAGED, INTERNAL SYSTEM STILL OPERATIONAL. COMMENCING RE-CAPSULE PROCESS."**

The Mechaniloid carefully picked itself off of the unconscious Hunter, rebalancing after the damage it had taken from his Z-Buster shots. Slowly, it lowered one of its claws downwards towards Zero, clamping shut and gripping him tightly. It's mouth began to creak and extend, revealing a large capsule within the Skull Crab. The capsule itself was attached via cables and wiring to multiple components within the Crab, seemingly acting as a temporary power source for the machine. A set of mechanisms pushed the capsule out, opening it with a low  _ kssh.  _ The Mechaniloid began lowering Zero's limp body into the capsule, finally ready to complete its mission after a hard battle.

Or at least, that was the plan until Zero sprung back to life and used his free arm to cut the internal capsule in two. The Skull Crab reacted violently to this surprise attack, throwing Zero to the side seemingly on instinct. Zero stuck out his hands, catching himself on the wall. "You know, the best part about dying so much is that you really know how to make it look real", he jeeringly told the machine. Zero's plan had worked perfectly, by faking his injuries, he was able to catch the Skull Crab off-guard, destroying both it's most valuable weapon and its power source. The Mechaniloid's eyes began to glow red again, preparing to shoot at Zero once more, only to be quickly sliced off by another well-placed saber slash. As the two metallic stalks fell and clanged on the floor, the Skull Crab's legs slowly gave in, resulting in the machine slumping down to the floor, finally defeated.

Zero had managed to deactivate that ancient Mechaniloid, but that risky maneuver he pulled wasn't without its drawbacks. It was true it allowed him to quickly defeat the machine, it also left him partially damaged. "Hmph, I was prepared for this", he thought to himself as he pulled out an energy canister from his back. While he was now fully charged and functional once more, his armor was a bit damaged. If that second robot was down here, he had to take the utmost precaution if it acted hostile. On that notion, Zero surveyed the surrounding area where he had crash-landed with the Crab. A laboratory, and while it was still quite derelict, it was nowhere near as bad as the rest of the castle. The computer screens and inner machinery seemed to still be fully functional somehow, albeit a fair bit dusty and worse-for-wear. Unlike the upper floors of the castle, it appeared as if the color of this lab was a mix of dark blues and greys in an almost checkerboard-like pattern. Zero approached one of the monitors, checking if it had any information on this other robot he was hunting.

[SWN-MK2.] 

[Energy Levels: Positive.]

[Weapon Energy: Full.]

[Modifications: Complete.]

[Status: Stand-by.]

"This-this can't be!", Zero said aloud. "No way, those memory errors were right, there really was another robot like me hidden somewhere. According to these readings, it's in top shape too. If it is hostile, I may be in for the fight of my life…". Zero paused, thinking of what to do. If he went back to Hunter HQ to let the others know, he might be reprimanded for his actions, or even worse, put everyone else in danger by making them fight something that could be leagues above him. If he just left this Maverick here however, who's to say someone won't let them loose later down the line, especially with a gigantic skull-faced castle in the middle of what used to be a field. By the time that happens, the Hunters may not even be a thing, so this robot would be able to run amok and cause havoc as it pleased…

After weighing his options, Zero decided to activate his fellow robot. He located the capsule housing them in the back corner of the lab. While walking towards it, he could feel his internal mechanisms start to pound. "What the?! What is this feeling? I think I've felt this before, but I can't remember how or when.", Zero thought to himself. Was it fear? Excitement? Perhaps the reality was setting in that this might very well be where he falls, among the ruins of his mad creator. 

He leaned over the capsule, it's glass covering caked in layers upon layers of dirt and dust. The capsule itself was similar to the one that Zero was found in so long ago, yet it was different in color. While it was partially faded, it seemed to be a dull golden color. The pounding inside Zero's chest began to increase in both tempo and strength. His head began to feel heavy. The room seemed to be swaying. He stumbled over to the capsule's control pad, looking for a way to activate it. Just as before, a new prompt appeared on Zero's optics.

[WARNING! SWN-0, You Are Attempting To Release SWN-MK2. Do You Wish To Allow This Action?]

[ Yes / No ]

Zero selected "Yes", with the capsule reacting accordingly. The lid slowly began to open, a soft  _ kssh _ sound like that of the capsule inside the Skull Crab echoed throughout the lab. Dust and smoke exited the capsule, completely cloaking whatever robot was inside. Zero backed away, still feeling his sensors being pushed to the limit. 

Unexpectedly, a hand shot out from the smoke, gripping the left side of the capsule with a repeated 

_ ktunk, ktunk, ktunk, ktunk. _

This surprised Zero a bit, as he expected whatever was inside to be a bit more sluggish after being trapped in a capsule for 300+ years. One detail he noticed however made him shudder a bit, as that hand wasn't the hand of a normal robot like him. Each finger was segmented in multiple areas, ending in claws that looked extremely sharp. From what he could see, the armor on the figure's arm was pitch black, with small, dark-blue gems adorning it's four sides. The robot grunted, as its other arm gripped the opposite side of the capsule. Yet again, their hand ended in claws. 

_ Ktunk, ktunk, ktunk, ktunk. _

A harsh breathing broke the silence, as the capsule creaked forward. A large armored leg, common on first-generation reploids, violently planted itself on the metal plate in front of the capsule. Yet again, the armor was black, with the "skin" covering of the robot itself being grey. Surprisingly, there were some gold accents on the bottom of the leg armor, with a black design on the bottom of the robot's foot, seemingly made to mimic the curve of a bat's wing. The other leg followed suit, and with a sudden lurch forward of the robot's body, it was finally completely visible. The rest of its body was adorned in the same pure black armor with golden accents, with those same dark blue gems placed on their limbs, four on the arm armor, one on the front of the leg armor, and one right in the center of their forehead.

On the same spot as Zero's forehead crystal.

Unlike Zero however, this robot's shoulder armor was pointed instead of squared off, with it's helmet having two points that descended and reascended only to curve back into itself, resembling yet another pair of bat wings. The robot stood motionless, hunched over. With no warning however, it threw itself back and began to laugh. "aha...Ahaha...GYA-HAHAHAHA!"

It threw itself forward once more, this time positioning itself in a straight-standing pose. "So, who's the one I get to thank for setting me free?". The robot opened their eyes, their two pupils shining a bright crimson red. "Hm? Who are you? I don't recognize you right off the bat, so you must be a newer model.", the robot said while staring directly at Zero. Zero looked on at the robot, wondering what he should do. 

"HEY!", the robot shouted, "ARE YOU JUST GONNA STAND THERE WITH YOUR MOUTH OPEN LIKE AN IDIOT, OR ARE YOU GONNA INTRODUCE YOURSELF?! I'd at least like to know who set me free from that horrible capsule." This type of response shook the Hunter, as it was rather...rude. "My name is Zero, I am a member of the Maverick Hunters. I have been sent here on a mission."

"Zero? Zero. Zero...Wait, hold on. That color...that helmet... **that hair.** I know you, you're that robot the Old Fool was working on until his final moments!", the robot replied. Zero was shocked, unlike himself, this robot kept all of his memories when he was freed. "Wait, you know who I am?", Zero asked the robot. "Know you? HAH! You were based on me!". Zero was shocked, according to this robot, he was what Zero was modeled on. "I can tell you're thinking something big from that look on your face. Yep, I'm what you would call a prototype for you...or maybe you're just an imitation of me."

"What do you mean?", Zero asked the robot. "Wait...you  **DON'T** remember me? You don't remember anything?". Zero remained silent. "This is  **RICH!** The scourge of the Old Fool's island, the destroyer of so many of his bases, and yet you don't even remember my name!?", the robot said while stepping closer to Zero. The pounding in Zero's chest strengthened in intensity, he began clutching it as his breathing became heavy. "What...what is this feeling?", Zero muttered aloud. "Hm? Hold on, this isn't right. You should be loving this stuff!", the robot angrily responded. "What? What do...you mean by that?", a hyperventilating Zero said, facing the robot. "You're joking, right?! You were programmed with the same virus as me, so you should be getting stronger!". Zero's eyes widened, this robot was talking about the Maverick Virus.

"Actually, now that I mention it...I don't think I've felt any stronger from your virus ever since I got out of that capsule. Something isn't right here, and I think I should get to the  **BOTTOM OF IT!** ". The robot's forehead gem began to shine, as a concentrated stream of blue light shot out at Zero's own gem. "G-GYAAAA!", Zero clutched his hands on the side of his helmet, screaming in agony. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!", he yelled at the robot. "Huh? Oh yeah, this is something the Fool programmed me and ONLY me with, a Mind-Scan function for his other machines. Pretty cool right?", the robot replied with a smirk on his face.

That smirk quickly faded away as he read Zero's memories however, turning into a massive scowl of pure hatred. "NO!  **NO! YOU PITIFUL EXCUSE OF A ROBOT MASTER!"** , the robot yelled as he kicked Zero in the chest, sending him rolling backwards. " **ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT NOT ONLY DID YOU** **_LOSE_ ** **THE ROBOENZA MAX STRAIN TO SOME PUNK NAMED SIGMA, BUT YOU ALSO ENDED UP** **_HELPING_ ** **THAT PITIFUL WASTE OF PARTS THAT WAS LIGHT'S GOODIE-TWO-SHOES** **_X_ ** **?!"** , he screeched at Zero. The hunter shakily lifted himself off of the ground. What was that kick? It shouldn't have hurt nearly that much from an older model, yet Zero's chest armor cracked even more than it had when the Skull Crab had crushed him. "There's only one thing I hate more than a traitor like  _ YOU,  _ **_AND THAT'S A_ ** **_FAILURE_ ** **_!",_ ** the robot shouted at the gasping Zero, walking up to him again. "You losing the Roboenza Max upgrade made you _ WEAK _ ,  **_DISGUSTINGLY_ ** _ WEAK!  _ We were supposed to harness that power to convert the weaker robots of the future to Doctor Wi- _ OUR  _ side,  _ AND YOU JUST  _ _ LOST _ _ IT!  _ IT WAS HIS DREAM TO MAKE THE WORLD A UTOPIA FOR US ROBOTS, AND YOU THREW IT ALL AWAY!"

It was clear at this point, there was no turning this robot around to the side of good like what had happened with Zero. Zero could visibly see a purple smoke-like aura emanating off the ancient Maverick, it almost looked like... _ The Sigma Virus.  _ He wasn't lying, if a robot as old as him possessed a virus this close in effect to Sigma's, then Zero's strain had to have been nearly identical. Back in his old body, he was able to incorporate the virus into himself to push far beyond his limits...but with his new generation upgrade, this older strain of the "Roboenza Max" virus was affecting him negatively. If a new-gen body like his was susceptible, then that means the rest of the world's Reploids were in danger as well. He had to stop this rogue Robot Master, or else a threat worse than the Sigma Virus would be unleashed. He stood up, only to wobble a bit, his vision turning blurry once more.

"Heh, looks like those upgrades ya got aren't exactly helping against what the Old Man whipped up so long ago, huh?  _ Tch,  _ and I was hoping for a fun fight to test out how much stronger I am with all these upgrades.", the Maverick said while stretching out his arm to look at his hand. "...I have an  _ i d e a",  _ he said with a devilish grin. His left arm transformed into a Buster-type weapon, adorned with three of the dark-blue gems that were scattered across his body. He took aim at Zero, charging up the buster, light radiating from the end of it as it began building up power. Zero breathed heavily, was this really the way he was going to die after all this time? Barely able to fight back? Disgraced and destroyed by his prototype? He closed his eyes and tilted his head down as the sound of the Buster charging grew louder.

_ Veeveeveeveevee~ _

**_KSHHHOOO!_ **

…

Zero opened his eyes. He expected to be blasted into pieces like the many times before, yet he still stood in the same spot as before. Maybe the robot had misse-? 

A searing pain coursed throughout Zero's body, as he threw himself down on the floor, screaming in anguish. He tilted his head towards the Maverick to see that he was never shooting Buster shots at him, the Buster itself was emanating a thick, purple gas from it's three gem-openings. This wasn't a conventional weapon, this Maverick was attempting to infect Zero with the Roboenza Max virus. "Y'see, this is what I figured. If  **_I_ ** get stronger from the virus and I'm  **_your_ ** prototype, then the same should work for you!", the robot yelled. Zero gripped the floor with his hands, cracking the tiles by the force he was exerting. His internal circuitry felt like it was overheating, overworking itself from the sheer amount of the virus that was entering his system. His new generation body may have protected him from a bit of an exposure, but this...this was a full on concentrated stream of a pure strain. He let out a deathly-loud yell once again, getting up on his knees and pounding the floor with his fists. He had to resist this, or else he would be the first casualty of this crazed robot. 

"MAN, you're a _ FIGHTER _ aren't you? Maybe I should amp up the  **_DOSAGE?!"._ ** The Buster got louder, as a faster stream of the viral cloud was sent Zero's way. The hunter howled in agony, as the virus began flowing into his circuitry even more. " **C'MON, IF I'M YOUR PROTOTYPE, THEN I KNOW YOU CAN HANDLE THIS! GET UP! FIGHT! LET THE ROBOENZA DO IT'S THING!"** , the Maverick shouted with increasing intensity.

Zero ceased his cries of pain and fell limp on the floor. His armor was nearly stained purple from the amount of pure concentrated Roboenza that was funneled into him. Sparks shot out from cracks in his armor that had given way from his circuits going haywire. He twitched several times before the light in his optics finally went out, leaving him staring out into the darkness of the lab with blank white eyes. 

" _ Tch,  _ I guess that was way too much for him. Whatever those  _ punks _ did to him made him soft and susceptible to the one thing that could make him even stronger. I gotta admit, I'm disappointed. I was expecting a challenge from the  _ great  _ and  _ mighty  _ Zero, The Doctor's  _ greatest  _ creation...but I guess there's no topping perfection like me. Oh well, I guess I could have a little  _ fun  _ with those Hunter pals of his. Hmm...who to start with first, the up-and-coming rookie Axl, or that disgustingly weak pacifist, X? Heh, might as well start with that X character, seeing as he's the reason why The Doctor made you and upgraded me. Imagine the look on the masses' faces when they see their  _ cherished blue defender  _ **_squashed like the pitiful bug he is under my foot?"_ **

The Maverick's talk of gusto was suddenly interrupted by the sound of metal scratching against the floor. "H-Huh? What was that?". Down on the ground, Zero's body began to convulse violently. His eyes flared back to life, as a purple haze overflowed his visor. He dug his fingers into the tiled floor once again, sending large cracks in each direction. He sluggishly picked himself off the ground, his body flopping in whatever direction he leaned to. "Oho, looks like The Doc's favorite is back up and ready for Round Tw-". The Maverick's sentence was cut-off by the sound of the ground cracking beneath Zero's feet as he slowly walked towards the robot. His blonde hair, once properly tied behind his helmet, was now frayed and flowing in multiple directions, some even appearing to be floating. His armor was now a light magenta color due to the viral infusion corrupting his previously red armor. Finally, the purple haze in his eyes faded, being replaced by deep scarlet pupils. He gritted his teeth and shot a twisted grin towards the robot. While his new upgraded body may have been made to combat viruses, his internal systems were made for just this sort of thing. The Evil Doctor's final plan was achieved after nearly 300 years…

_ Zero was now Awakened. _

"Oh-ho? It looks like someone's ready to  _ FIGHT!  _ I didn't want to leave empty handed, so I figured if I was gonna destroy you, I'd want a fun fight out of it! Haha...HAHAHA! I'LL FINALLY SHOW THAT FOOL THAT THE SUPERIOR ROBOT WAS NEVER ZERO, IT WAS NEVER THAT BLUE BRAT, IT WAS NEVER X…

IT

WAS

ME,

**_BASS! GYA-HAHAHA!_ **

Before Bass could prepare himself, Zero had launched himself towards him with immense force. With one of his arms stretched out, he gripped onto Bass' helmet, cracking it slightly. "HAHA! NOW  _ THIS  _ IS WHAT I LIKE TO SEE!", Bass yelled in excitement. He retaliated by smashing his clenched fist into Zero's head with a mighty sideways-swing. Zero stumbled back, but was already preparing his next assault. He dashed right back in, taking wild swings with both fists, trying to grab whatever he could in a frenzy. Bass blocked many of these swipes with his arm-gauntlets, grinning madly. "Sorry, but if you think flailing wildly is gonna do you any good, you're  _ MISTAKEN!".  _ With that, he slammed his leg into Zero's chest, making the berserk Hunter clutch it in shock as he snarled. "Man, I heard you went crazy way back when The Doc tried to infuse you with the virus, but I couldn't even have expected this. You're fighting like a rabid animal, not even using any weapons! ... **ARE YOU MOCKING ME?! SAYING I'M NOT WORTH THE** **_TROUBLE?!"._ ** Clearly, whatever Bass was thinking Zero was up to was having an effect on him. This visibly made Bass shake with pure fury, not realising that Zero had no real control over himself at the moment and thus forgot about his weapons. "So, you want me to start putting up more of a fight?", Bass asked the still-snarling Hunter. Zero seemed to have perked up, now staring directly at Bass with a twisted grin.  **_"OH I'LL GIVE YOU A FIGHT THEN!",_ ** Bass declared with a harsh yell.

He charged towards Zero, changing his Buster back into his clawed-hand. He took several slashes at him, the momentum behind the swings causing an audible  _ SHING  _ as the claws ripped through the air. Zero bobbed-and-weaved through many of these, laughing while doing so. Something inside of him had snapped, he seemed to be enjoying the intensity of this brawl. While he would often try to end battles quickly, now that he was reverted back to his original state, he was savoring every moment. A slash from Bass finally made contact...and it froze a piece of Zero's armor?! Despite his crazed state, he stopped in shock, taking a look at the damaged area, which let Bass land yet another cut. "Why?  _ WHY AREN'T YOU PAYING ATTENTION TO ME?!",  _ he yelled as Zero jumped backwards. This wound also froze over near-instantly. The sheer cold of these slashes made Zero's surrounding circuits feel like they were numb, unable to function as long as the ice remained. "Oh? I see you've noticed my  _ upgrade _ . You see, I  _ convinced  _ The Doc that if I was gonna be upgraded to help you, I would need a  _ LOT  _ more modifications to better aid you in combat. And what do you know, the Fool actually agreed! Now these claws…", he paused as he let them shine in the glow of the many monitors, " _ CAN FREEZE WHATEVER I CUT!".  _

This revelation snapped a semblance of sense into Zero, as now he knew he had to keep a distance from those swings. His hand morphed back into the Z-Buster, as he silently took aim at the gloating Bass. He fired a massive, purple-infused shot of energy towards the ancient Maverick, which made direct contact, resulting in an explosion that destroyed a massive part of the underground lab. The surrounding monitors burst into flaming piles of glass and circuitry, Bass' capsule in the back of the room shattered, and small violet fires spread across the floor. A giant smile formed on Zero's face, he had destroyed the one who had claimed to be his superior with relative ease, he had won! He threw his head back in pure, carnal ecstasy after looking at the damage he had caused. Now with his original viral programming intact, he had a new mission…

DESTROY THOMAS LIGHT'S FINAL CREATION, DESTROY THE MAVERICK HUNTE-

A serrated saw blade shot from the cloud of debris where Bass was standing, jamming itself directly into Zero's arm. He grunted in pain, gritting his teeth as he grabbed the blade and pulled it out, tossing it to the side. "So... _ you thought you could take me out  _ **_THAT_ ** _ easily, huh?",  _ a voice clearly shaking with fury announced from the cloud of smoke. A low humming noise, similar to that of a jet engine starting up could be heard from that side of the room. With a mighty gust the smoke was cleared, as Bass emerged, a jetpack-like attachment jutting from his back. Zero expected him to be massively damaged from that direct hit, but it looked like all he had done was scratch his armor a bit. " **_PLEASE!_ ** You think The Doctor wouldn't have made me resistant enough to take your hits after all the damage you caused back in his bases?!  _ DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!" _ , Bass gloated once more. While Zero was very much acting like a wild beast due to the overabundance of the virus in his systems, he could at least tell one thing. This fight wasn't going to go as smoothly as he had once thought.

Zero began firing wildly at the now-airborne Bass, massive purple blasts staining the air with their energy trails as he laughed loudly. Bass easily dodged these by flying out of the way, the blasts colliding with the wall in the back of the lab, causing pieces of rubble to explode onto the ground. "You think you can take me down with an aim like tha- _ YOW!" _ , Bass yelped as a large rock unexpectedly smashed onto his head. He looked up to see a rain of rocks and stone falling towards them from the upper levels. "You  _ IDIOT!  _ Your rapid shooting is bringing the entire castle down on top of us! If you wanna continue this fight, I say we get to higher ground!", Bass yelled at Zero. The corrupted hero continued to fire his buster at Bass, ignoring the damage he was causing. Why should he stop? This is the most fun he's had in ages! "FINE! I offered you a chance to escape, so let's see how you deal with being buried alive!", Bass shouted at Zero as he maneuvered between shots. Both of his hands transformed into what looked like spikes, before he revealed what they really were with a loud "CRASH BOMBER!". Bass shot off a rally of multiple Crash Bombers, all of which firmly planted themselves into the walls and floor. Zero didn't even notice these ticking time bombs, as he was solely focused on striking Bass out of the sky. With the bombs about to explode and the rubble getting closer, Bass formed a shield of star-like projectiles around himself. With a powerful  _ FWOOSH,  _ he charged upwards, crashing directly through the debris.

Zero's current one-track mind wouldn't allow such a strong opponent such as Bass escape that easily, he wanted to tear him apart with his own two hands! With near-unseeable speed, he launched himself from the ground up onto the falling rocks, the force of the jump leaving a large crater down on the laboratory floor. He began leaping from stone to stone, keeping an eye on the still ascending Bass. Meanwhile, Bass himself was focused on escaping this entire mess. There was no way that rabid punk could escape this mess that he caused, and there was NO way he was going to just sit there and let himself get buried for a fight, especially not after being stuck in that capsule for so long. Just as he managed to spot a glimmer of light from the surface, he heard a deep and furious yell from beneath him. "What the?! YOU?!", a flabbergasted Bass yelled at the climbing Zero, "How'd you even manage to catch up so fast?!". The infected Hunter leapt straight for Bass in an attempt to grapple him back down to continue the fight...only for him to ram into the swirl of stars that was surrounding the escaping Maverick, being sent falling downwards with multiple stars. "HAH! You can't get past the Star Crash by using just sheer for-", Bass' gloat was stopped in its tracks as he saw the stars Zero had fallen with being thrown back at intense speeds. One star collided with Bass' shield of stars, hooking them onto itself as it continued to head upwards, leaving Bass vulnerable for attack. He looked down to see an angered Zero, now brandishing his sword, swinging it whenever he could as he jumped from boulder to boulder. With each swing, he created more stars that flew upwards, some making direct contact with Bass as he attempted to form another Star Crash shield. " _ Tch _ ! I forgot that he had a variable weapons system too. All I've done now is give him a new weapon!", the angered robot thought to himself. Just in the nick of time, he formed another shield just as a star was about to make contact with his jet-booster, bouncing it off instead. 

Bass shot out the top of the castle's "skull", looking back down at the still-climbing Zero, who was yelling in frustration as his Star Crash-blitz had failed. "I felt bad about not fighting him before while the base was crumbling because I thought he couldn't handle it, but now that I know he can-", Bass' buster changed shape, now having a large hatch at the end, " **_CONCRETE SHOT!"._ ** The buster began rapidly creating chunks of concrete, all of which were falling towards Zero through the hole Bass created. As Zero looked upwards, a cube of concrete smashed directly on his face, damaging his helmet quite a bit. Plenty more were headed his way, so he decided it was time to pick up the pace. Flashing various colors, he leapt upwards once again from his spot, managing to make his way onto a few of the descending concrete blocks. Bass took notice of this, ranting "HE JUST HAD TO BUILD YOU WITH EVERYTHING DIDN'T HE?! WELL HOW'S _ THIS?!".  _ Both of Bass' arms changed into large, bulking, mechanical sets of metal that resembled the first-generation of Robot Masters.  **_"SUPER ARM",_ ** the airborne assaulter screamed as he dove directly at Zero, slamming into him with both of his arms crossed. Zero gritted his teeth in pain, which then turned into a smirk as he noticed Bass had brought himself in close. With a quick leg-movement, he flipped himself and Bass around, with him now being on top.  _ "Trying to make me take the force of the impact huh? WELL I'M TOO SMART TO FALL FOR THAT!".  _ Bass reactivated his jets, using it's thrust to twist Zero back underneath himself.  **_"I'M TAKING US BOTH FOR A RIDE!"_ ** , he declared as they rocketed back down towards the castle. Struggling, Zero lifted up his Buster-clad arm, revealing that he had indeed copied the Crash Bomber as one sat fully-loaded in the barrel. He fired at will at the quickly-approaching castle, now laughing in chaotic delight. " _ Oh no-"  _ was all Bass had time to say before the two collided with a floor of Crash Bombers, the impact making all the bombs explode at once, near-instantaneously leveling the ruined castle to the ground.

The charred ashes of the ancient castle were raining down from the sky, gently swaying in the wind, almost making it appear as if it was snowing. The sky was darkened, the amount of smoke from the bombs having filled up the surrounding area. Multiple fires were spreading, engulfing the once-lush landscape in a harsh scarlet light. From a mountain of rubble, a hand clad in magenta colors emerged, gradually digging it's way to freedom. Eventually, Zero had managed to pull himself from the ruins of the castle. Despite being at the apex of the explosion, he had not received that much damage. Strangely, he now felt in control of his body once again. Pausing for a minute, he realised that taking that much force at once must have effectively flushed the virus out of his system by making it overwork itself to keep him in stable condition. "Where had Bass gone?", he thought to himself. If he had managed to walk away from an impact like that no worse for wear, then surely his twisted prototype must be somewhere around here too. He began searching for Bass, each step he took making the soot under his boots crunch. As he searched, he took note of the surrounding environment. It wasn't only Bass that had caused this much destruction...he had actively participated in it as well. If only he fought the virus' control just a bit harder, he could have prevented this field from becoming a wasteland. A thought crossed his mind, what if he fell to the virus because he  _ wanted _ to go on a rampage? It was already hard-wired into his systems to absorb as much as he could to become stronger, what if he unconsciously allowed it to happen? Could there be a possibility that if Bass had to be fought again, he would end up corrupting Zero once more? Who knows, maybe Zero's old programming wasn't entirely gone. Maybe his dead-set decision to track down and stop Bass alone was really it's way of bypassing his better judgement to have him re-corrupted to begin his mission once more?

_"THERE YOU ARE!",_ a harsh voice yelled from behind Zero. It was Bass, damaged quite a bit from the Crash Bomb-impact. His armor had cracks and pieces missing from it, the robot himself out of breath. Luckily, Zero noticed that his jet-booster had been nearly destroyed, so there was no way for him to escape towards a more populated area. "Good, now there's no quick way for him to spread that Roboenza. If anything, he'll have to travel by foot.", he reassured himself. "Don't you _DARE_ look so smug in front of me! Do you know how close you were to offlining both of us?! Now I know why that senile old fool locked you away for so long, you can't handle the virus without going off the deep-end!", Bass stated. 

Zero took a step forward, "Listen Bass, the two of us? We're all that's left of The Doctor's creations. What's the point of continuing his so-called legacy if we destroy each other? He's  gone , we don't have to fight each other. You can stop fighting." The damaged robot turned to the side, staying uncharacteristically quiet. "If you agree to cease this useless quest of vengeance, the two of us can return to the Hunter HQ. They accepted me as one of their own even though I used to be a Maverick, I'm sure they would do the same for you, especially since I'll be there with you.". Bass turned even further away, with his back nearly facing Zero. "Listen, no matter what that madman said to you about being my inferior prototype, don't believe it. We can be what we were always meant to be if we both surrender...we can be  _ brothers." _ . He stretched out his hand, waiting for his fellow Robot Master to agree and join him. Silently, Bass turned around, head still down, and slowly walked up to Zero. Was this finally happening, had the Hunter really reached something inside of his battle-hungry sibling? Were they finally going to end the mad doctor's 300+ year plan to initiate a robot revolution and stomp out the work of Dr. Light?

He stood next to Zero, finally lifting up his head. It was clear that what he said had an effect on him, his eyes expressing no emotion as he looked at Zero directly, barely being a few inches away from his face. Unfortunately, Bass had smacked Zero's hand away, ultimately rejecting his brother's plea for a truce. "You don't  _ get _ it.", Bass said, his voice becoming angry. "The newer models. X, Axl, You...you all have your free wills. I may look the same as you Reploids, but I'm still a Robot Master, I lack my own will. The Fool made sure I couldn't betray him or sabotage his plans after I stepped into that capsule.". "What? What do you mean?!", Zero said in a surprised tone. "He didn't give me a free will, my main programming has always remained the same. I've always had a rebellious streak, attempting to show him that he didn't  _ need _ anybody else but me to destroy Dr. Light's work...but I made sure to always come back and serve him when the time arose because that was my function."

"This new, upgraded form...I was his backup plan as he called it.", Bass said as he stared at the back of his monstrous-looking clawed hands. I was supposed to stay sealed forever, only being released if someone found me buried under all that stone...or if you decided to reactivate the Castle.". Zero understood what his double was saying. His purpose was to finish the Doctor's final plan, by any means necessary, and Zero had unknowingly unleashed him to finish the job. At the same time however, what Bass was saying irked him. With his fist clenched, he raised it up to his face. "Don't be so foolish! With the technological advancements we've had since your era, we can effectively give you free will like the rest of us! Just as long as you follow me, we can have your old programming removed and-". " _ YOU JUST DON'T GET IT!",  _ Bass shouted over the pleading Zero, "If I lose that part of me, how can I know I'll still be  _ ME?  _ Not only that, but just bringing me into a populated area will spread the virus. If it was able to bypass your new body's systems-", Bass paused with a grin, "-it could definitely cause some damage to weaker-willed Reploids.". 

Zero was taken aback by his brother's answer...more so by the fact that what he said was true. How could Zero ensure that they wouldn't just butcher Bass' personality to make him "non-Maverick", and how could he even take him anywhere populated if his strain was able to make even Zero snap? "There's no way I'd be able to go with you, and there's even less of a chance that I'll let some punk mess around with my head. So, I'll give you two choices. One, we fight until one of us is destroyed, or two, we team up and wreck this world.". Zero remained silent. Having two Wily-bots together would be a horrible idea. If they managed to turn Maverick again, no one would be able to stop them. Bass morphed his arm into his buster, aiming at the thinking Hunter. "I can already tell what your answer is from the look on your face. So come on,  _ SHOW ME WHAT YOU CAN DO!". _

Zero, expressionless, drew his Z-Saber from his back once again, the light from it's activation illuminating half of his face while cloaking the other in shadow. His brother was right, for the greater good, he would have to destroy him. He would have to fight with all his strength to ensure he was the last one standing...or if possible, take himself out  _ with _ his ancient sibling. As he entered a fighting stance, Bass began to laugh. "Gyeh-heh heh...you know, I was kind of bummed out by the idea that one of us would have to be deactivated by the other, but the thought of this battle is just  **FIRING ME UP!** ". Zero smirked, he couldn't lie, this was making him excited as well. He figured that with the two of them being Wily-robots, they were literally made for this. With a sky full of smoke, the air bringing down the ashes of their creators final stronghold, and the blazing fires around them illuminating the quickly-darkening ruins, the two final remnants of a madman's dream of conquest dashed towards each other, preparing to fight harder than they had ever done before.

Bass opened up with a jump, firing down a volley of buster-shots. A barrage of rapid-fire purple plasma bullets rained down towards Zero, who retaliated with a slice upwards, creating a star-shaped projectile that blocked the incoming fire. " _ Tch,  _ I shoulda known using my special weapons would come back to bite me.", an aggravated Bass remarked as his buster changed color, signifying a weapon change. Zero took this opening, charging in close to his brother, delivering a direct hit with his Z-Saber. The damaged robot master groaned in pain as he fell back, the blade leaving a rather large slash in his armor. Unexpectedly however, with an emerging grin, he fired his buster at Zero, who instinctively slashed at the incoming projectile. He was met with a major splash of...water?! "Did Bass seriously just shoot a bubble at me as a weapon?!", the flabbergasted Hunter thought, just as the water's full effect activated. Wherever it had splashed on Zero slowly began to corrode, himself gritting his teeth from the burning sensation. "You like it?", the smiling Bass mocked, preparing another shot, "For having a name as lame as Bubble Lead, it packs quite a punch! Must be the  _ acid _ it's infused with!", he said in a laughing-manner as he fired another round of acidic bubble towards Zero. Thinking fast, the Hunter attached the Z-Buster onto his empty hand, taking aim at the bounding bubbles and popping them from a distance. He noticed something after he had avoided Bass' barrage, the fact that Bass himself was missing. 

The ground shook under Zero, a drill emerging and shooting out of the charred soil like a missile, making contact with his helmet and exploding, both knocking him off-balance and dealing a bit of damage. More and more drills began to appear from the ground under him, forcing him to dash away to avoid being hit by their explosions. Luckily, he managed to grab one of the rising drills, copying it's weapon data into his systems. With a jump into the air, he aimed his saber downwards, it's plasma blade morphing into a large drill-like shape. He dashed towards what appeared to be the source of the projectiles, jabbing his saber into the ground as it began to whirl at extreme speeds. The Drill Bombs had stopped, Zero thinking that he had offlined Bass that easily. He removed the buried drill-saber from the dirt and looked down into the hole it had created. Staring back at him was a flickering Bass, smiling as he exploded into a mass of slithering snake-like robots. This surprised Zero, who was now being swarmed by the small robots. "How did he do that?! When did he have the time to set a duplicate under the ground?", the magenta swordsman thought as he swung at the quickly-climbing snake drones. "Thanks for keeping him in place boys!", a snarky voice shouted from behind Zero. The real Bass had appeared, running directly at the currently occupied Zero. His buster morphed into a heavy-looking medieval flail, which he promptly smashed into the Hunter's chest once he got in close enough. The impact made Zero gasp in pain, as the weight of the flail forced a reaction out of him. Bass had not accounted for the flail also destroying some of the Search Snakes in his assault, this oversight allowing Zero to escape his brother's second attempt to hit him with the Knight Crusher with a leap backwards.

"Why do you keep…", Bass said before pausing, his entire body shaking as it made a loud humming sound, " **_RUNNING AWAAAAY?!"._ ** A massive purple blast with a condensed ball of sonic energy shot out of his mouth just as he screamed, the sheer volume of it causing the ground to send dirt and debris flying as the projectile flew towards Zero. It made direct contact, pushing him back. The Hunter planted both of his boots in the ground, grunting as he grabbed the orb with his hands, the energy stored inside making his palms violently shake as he placed his hands on it. With a mighty push he shoved the orb back towards Bass, who quickly formed a wall of ice, blocking the Noise Crush from making a direct hit. The Ice Wall shattered from the impact of the orb just as it bounced off towards the darkened sky of smoke above. It pierced the clouds, exploding in the air, the released vibrations sending a massive ripple through the sky that cleared the smoke overhead. This revealed the setting golden-red sun, illuminating the ravaged battlefield.

The two robots were becoming tired from the fast paced battle, both breathing heavily. The head-on collision from the Noise Crush left a circular indent on Zero's chest armor, while Bass' armor had a large gash from the Z-Saber strike he took while vulnerable. "Tell me-", Zero suddenly said aloud, "-how can you manage using so many Special Weapons at once? We were designed to handle only 8 at a time.". Bass smirked, "My upgrades are the result of a near-lifetime of research.", he said while patting his chest. "Way back when, The Doctor experimented with having a mass-produced combat robot that could use as many special weapons as possible. As you can guess, they were all failures. However, when he made me, I had the same copy capabilities as that Blue Buffoon. All he had to do after I stepped into that capsule was set it to upgrade not just my buster, but my entire body to handle every weapon at once, and as you can guess, that extra time I was left locked away let the process be  _ PERFECTED!".  _ Zero was left dumbfounded, it truly seemed that Bass was made to be the ultimate backup plan in case he had failed. There had to be  some sort of flaw in his design, or else there was a possibility that he would be overwhelmed by his brother's sheer amount of firepower. As the two regained their composure, the smoke from the still-burning castle fires refilled the sky, darkening the field once more. "So...if we're done catching our  _ BREATHS-",  _ Bass said as his buster morphed back into his clawed-hand, "- _ WHY DON'T YOU GIVE ME A FIGHT I'LL NEVER  _ **_FORGET?!"._ ** He took a swipe downwards, a large claw-shaped projectile firing towards Zero from where he stood. The former-Maverick sliced through the incoming Slash Claw with ease, quickly approaching his black-armor clad brother with his saber ready to strike. Bass attempted to catch the saber with his hands, still covered in glowing energy from the special weapon, only for the blade to completely bypass the Slash Claw's power, striking him directly as the light faded away from his claws. The shock from his ability being cancelled left him open to a furious 4-hit saber combo from Zero, dealing massive damage to Bass. The angered robot master clenched his fist, sending a powerful blast of swirling wind back at his attacker, ripping into his magenta armor and making his hair blow wildly in the vortex. "All right... _ NOW IT'S GETTING INTERESTING!",  _ a damaged Bass said with a grin.

  
  


"ZERO!", a voice shouted from inside his helmet. This sudden noise surprised the Hunter, as he had totally forgotten to turn off his communicator on his helmet. "We've gotten word of a strange sighting, possibly Maverick! A skull-shaped castle emerged from the ground in a remote location, and apparently it suddenly...exploded?! I see from your current location that you are the closest operative to the supposed fortress, do you need any backup?", a female voice asked. "No, I can handle it on my own!", Zero barked back at the "Navigator". He should have known, he was in such a rush that he neglected to turn off his tracking status, and the Navigators back at HQ always monitor where Hunters are positioned just in case of a nearby Maverick attack. "Z-Zero? Are you sure you're okay, that answer wasn't really like y-".  _ " _ **_HE'S BUSY!",_ ** Bass shouted as he charged towards the unexpecting Zero, somehow tapped into his brother's comlink. "Wha-who is this?! Zero? Zero, can you hear me?! Do you need any backu-". The Navigator's worried cries were silenced as Zero shut-off his communicator just in time to block an incoming kick with his arm-gauntlet. Once again, the kick left cracks in his armor, now clearly being a special weapon. 

"SO,  _ WAS THAT YOUR  _ **_HUNTER PALS?!",_ ** Bass angrily said as he swung himself around to attempt another Charge Kick with his other leg. Zero lifted his other arm, blocking the kick with his opposite gauntlet, it too cracking from the impact. "I thought this would be a  _ FAMILY AFFAIR!  _ I KNEW I SHOULDN'T HAVE TRUSTED A  TRAITOR LIKE YOU TO KEEP THIS A ONE-ON-ONE! Once you fall behind, you hero-types  _ always  _ call for backup.  **_WELL NO MORE PLAYING NICE!",_ ** an enraged Bass announced as he tossed himself from his brother's arm with yet another Charge Kick. "Great, not only do I have to defeat him before HQ sends X, Axl, or some other Hunter here to help me, but Alia just made him even angrier! I should have known he would tap into my receiver after that memory scan he pulled earlier.", Zero thought as he prepared himself for another one of the furious robot's onslaughts. He noticed something however, after using three Charge Kicks in a row, Bass' legs were sparking. 

"That's it! He may be more efficient at using special weapons than those mass-produced prototypes, but overusing them might still cause him to overload himself. I need to force him to use as many weapons as he can in a short amount of time, and then go in for the final blow.". He had figured out Bass' flaw, and all thanks to the robot master's horrible temper. Zero smirked, finally having a plan to end this drawn-out battle. He allowed his arm to fall to his side, deactivating the Z-Saber, it's light slowly fading and retracting into its hilt. He turned towards Bass, closing his eyes and standing still. "W-what is  **THIS?!** Are you  _ GIVING UP?  _ No... _ NONONONO!  _ **_NO!_ ** **I WILL** **NOT** **TAKE OVER THIS WORLD WITHOUT A GOOD FIGHT...** **_BUT IF THAT'S HOW YOU WANNA PLAY THEN FINE!_ ** **_I'LL SEND YOU OUT IN A BLAZE OF GLORY!"_ ** . Bass tossed his hand back, morphing it back into a buster, sending it forward once again to send a blazing wheel of flames towards the unmoving Zero. The Scorch Wheel zoomed across the charred ground, burning even more of the Earth as it's fire made contact. It struck Zero head-on, exploding into a gigantic inferno. Bass began to laugh, laughing even harder than he ever had before. "To think,  THAT  was supposed to be his greatest creation. Pitiful, hanging out with those Hunters made him soft. Oh well, might as well wait here until his friends arrive, maybe they'll give me a  **REAL CHALLEN-** **_HUH?!"_ ** . A green flash of light within the explosion had caught Bass' attention, did that pathetic "brother" of his actually survive getting hit directly?! As he walked closer to inspect the damage, a large spinning object shot out from the flames and smashed into Bass' helmet as it passed him, only for it to come back and hit him again. As it went into the flames, the speed at which it had returned extinguished the fire with a powerful gust of wind, revealing Zero with his arm raised up, awaiting his weapon. It latched back on, forming a small, swirling shield of pure plasma. "What kind of weapon is  _ THAT?!",  _ an angered Bass demanded as he brushed off the dangling pieces of his helmet. "One of the key pieces to defeating you, the Shield Boomerang".

This had been a top-secret prototype weapon made for Zero back at HQ. He had grabbed it while he was sneaking out of the base, figuring he may need all the help he could get. From what he understood, it could block nearly any projectile, as long as they weren't exceptionally powerful, and charge up the shield to launch it off as a mighty attack. While the special weapons Bass was using were strong, they were also 300+ years behind the curve, leaving them prime targets for the Shield Boomerang to absorb. "PLEASE! You think you can stop me with a  _ shield?  _ TRUST ME, I have experience dealing with shield-users, and the one common thing is that a shield has to give way sometime!", Bass gloated as he prepared another weapon. His buster glowed a bright yellow, firing out a Thunder Beam that split into three. Zero dove into all three, the shield absorbing the electric blasts into itself, growing and glowing brighter. 

"What the?! Well then let's try _THIS!",_ Bass shouted in a determined tone. He fired off a light-blue laser beam from his buster, the Gemini Laser, known for being able to pierce through anything. It collided with the shield, pushing Zero back a bit. While it did in fact damage him slightly, Zero ensured to try and show no emotion, as to goad Bass into a frenzy. At max charge, he threw the boomerang towards his increasingly-angry prototype, who dodged the initial attack, looking back at it to ensure he would avoid it's return-arc. Bass was suddenly smashed on the back of the side of the head by a hard material, this assault catching him off-guard as the boomerang arched back and slashed into his arm, exposing wires and circuitry underneath. As he stumbled a bit, he noticed what it was that Zero had shot at his head, _a_ _concrete block._ Bass retaliated with a volley of Dive Missiles, all of them homing in on the approaching Zero. As he attempted to move out of the way, the missiles homed in on to his location. Now seeing that they were tracking his movements, he did something extremely reckless and dove into the oncoming projectiles shield-first. Due to them being a physical weapon, Zero took a good brunt of the blast, charring some of his artificial skin, but the shield itself had returned to full power. With yet another toss, the shield quickly made its way towards Bass. As the robot master threw up his arms to initiate a barrier-type weapon to prevent the projectile from harming him, he looked over to be met by an airborne Zero diving towards him, holding two small purple blades. He had not accounted for the surprise attack, and thus was slashed by the daggers in rapid succession. Zero had figured that after Bass saw that it would be hard to simply avoid the shield, he would try to start using his own barriers to protect himself. Unfortunately for Bass however, Zero knew that starting a barrier-type weapon leaves the user open, and used this chance to jump over the shield and breach his defenses with his "V-Hanger" daggers. Despite their size, if struck enough times with them, they can be extremely deadly. Bass was left disoriented by both the attack and his own barrier being cancelled out, and thus was slashed in the chest by the incoming Shield Boomerang, both on its initial throw and its return. He fell to the ground clutching his chest armor, heavily breathing.

Zero walked up to his near-unconscious prototype, looking on as he attempted to get back up. " _ Hff hff... _ so what're you just standing there for? Aren't you gonna finish me off?", an exhausted Bass asked. Zero contemplated actually offlining him, could he actually do it? It wasn't necessarily his fault he acted this way, his programming was the one to blame. However, if he didn't destroy him right now, he could escape and begin infecting Reploids with Roboenza, making them go berserk like Sigma once did in the past. Zero made up his mind, reactivating his Z-Saber, closing his eyes, and jabbing it down right on Bass. "It's over.", Zero said with a sigh.

A sharp pain shot through Zero's entire body as he suddenly felt sluggish. "What...what happened?!", he said aloud as he fell on one of his knees. Bass was missing, his saber instead jabbed into the ground. He attempted to pick himself up, but it was no use. It felt as if his energy was being siphoned away. " _ Aaaaaah, _ now THAT was refreshing!". Zero managed to finally stand by using his saber as a crutch, only to turn around and make eye contact with a smiling Bass, his arm reassembling itself from pieces of purple goo that detached from the Hunter's back. Some of his visible injuries, most noticeably the gashes left on his chest armor by the Shield Boomerang, were now gone. "You like it? I think the files called it the Grab Buster or something. It can steal the energy of other machines and give it  _ aaaaaaaall  _ to me. It's amazing what you can develop with a bit of alien technology.". Zero couldn't believe it, not only had this crafty robot master escaped his blade, but also drained his energy with a supposed alien ability in the process? How did he manage to get around him so quickly? "Don't worry-", Bass chimed in, "-I already used all of the Grab Buster's energy, so from here on out it's all or nothing.". His brother was right, that move had drained Zero of a good amount of energy. He had to fight harder than before to ensure Bass would fall, as it seemed that he was now carefully using his special weapons to avoid damaging himself.

Zero, now standing back up after the Grab Buster's effect had ended, began running towards Bass with his V-Hanger daggers once more. They seemed to be the most effective against him due to their speed giving him little time to react. As the magenta warrior leaped into the air and dove at his black-clad brother, he vanished. Zero suddenly found himself on the ground, a painful chill being felt on his back. He moved his arm over the area to check what it was, feeling that it was slash-marks from Bass' claws. This couldn't have been another one of his copy tricks, Zero didn't even make direct contact with it to fade away. As he blinked, he was surrounded by floating, beeping explosives encapsulated in a bubble-like coating. Where had these come from, they weren't here a second ago! He raised up his arm, activating the Boomerang Shield just as the beeps ended, protecting his upper body from the large explosion. "I'm  _ REALLY  _ starting to hate that thing.", an annoyed voice spoke from behind the charred swordsman. Bass had finally appeared, calmly walking up to a tired Zero. Was he using a time-freezing ability? No, it couldn't be, Zero had gone up against foes with such a power, this was definitely different. Again, in the blink of an eye, he vanished and emerged in front of the Hunter's face. " _ Boo.",  _ he whispered as he dug his claws into Zero's chest. 

"Heh, you gotta love the Flash Stopper, nothing like freezing a pain-in-the-neck in their tracks and letting loose.", Bass said with a sigh. The ex-Maverick could feel the ice from his brother's claws seeping into his main components, freezing him from the inside-out. He let out a pained growl as he grit his teeth, attempting to activate the Boomerang Shield at close-range. "NO, NO MORE OF THAT!", Bass yelled as he noticed what Zero was planning. He ripped the shield from it's connector on Zero's gauntlet with one movement by activating the Power Arm and tossed it incredibly far into the distant woods, sparks flying from where it once was due to being forcibly removed. The Hunter tried to free himself by hitting Bass while they were close, but his systems were nearly frozen solid by the hand still embedded in his chest. Small chunks of frost and ice began to poke through his artificial skin and armor, his tired breathing changing to shivering from the drop in his internal systems' temperature. He struggled to break free, barely being able to lift his arms, jittering as the cold was impacting their movement. To humor him, Bass allowed him to place his hands upon his arm to make an attempt at breaking free. With all his might, Zero tried to push the claws out of his chest, small clouds of cold air escaping from his mouth with every breath. His entire body was trembling from the ever-increasing amount of ice spreading through his circuits, even impacting his usage of special abilities, but he had to try and continue fighting by any means. "I'm honestly impressed.", Bass spoke as Zero was still grunting in an attempt to break free, "You're losing, and yet you still have the guts to keep trying? You just don't know when to quit. Honestly, you remind me more of a Light-bot than one of my fellow line members. Oh well, letting you struggle any longer would just make this sad.". As he heard this, Zero slowly moved his eyes, from staring at the hand jabbed in his chest to meeting Bass' evil-shining eyes directly. "Thanks for the fight. It wasn't what I expected, but it was a nice enough warm-up to test out what this body could do.", the robot master said with a grin. Zero felt the hand inside his chest shake, changing shape as his brother activated yet another special weapon.  **_"HARD KNUCKLE!",_ ** Bass shouted with glee as the hand stuck in Zero increased in size and shot straight through his chest with a rocket-powered punch.

The Maverick Hunter let out an audible gasp as the fist ripped through his back, his hands slowly falling downwards towards the opening. His eyes flickered as he stared at the various pieces of his own inner-circuits lying on the ground at his feet, many still frozen solid. He attempted to stay up, he had to continue the fight, there was no way he would fall here after everything he had survived. Shakily, he reached back to grab his sheathed saber, attempting to activate it and slash at Bass. The cruel robot let this happen, as he stood watching the broken Hunter starting the sword, the green plasma blade emerging once again. He stumbled forward with a clumsy swing, one that Bass easily avoided by stepping to the left. He continued to slowly and agonizingly attack Bass, who continued to move out of the way while laughing at his brother's feeble attempt to stop him. After what felt like an eternity to Zero, he fell face-first into the dirt. He tried his hardest to pick himself back up, but he could already tell from the vital readings appearing in his helmet that he was soon to be a goner. " _ Heh... _ I guess this really is the final way I die.", Zero managed to say, his voice shaking as he was rapidly losing power. "I'm glad that you were the one to destroy me. It feels...right to meet my end at the hands of one of my own.". Bass remained silent as he stared at the dying swordsman. With one final breath, Zero shut his eyes and let himself collapse onto the burned ground, sending a small amount of ashes upwards into the air. With his grip on his weapon disappearing, the Z-Saber fell out of his hand, rolling away and stopping as it collided with a piece of the castle's debris. The hole in Zero's back continued to spark for mere moments before finally shutting down completely. Bass continued to look on at his fallen brother, silently thinking, unmoving. 

The fires from the castle's explosion were beginning to die out, once again allowing the setting sun to emerge from the large clouds of smoke. As it's warm light bathed the ruined battlefield, Bass finally moved. He opened his mouth, sighing right before a boisterous laugh escaped his mouth. He began laughing, harder than he had ever laughed before. "I've done it, I'VE DONE IT! I SHOWED THEM ALL,  _ I AM THE ULTIMATE ROBOT!  _ YOU NEVER NEEDED ANYONE ELSE,  **ESPECIALLY** THAT KNOCK-OFF ZERO! _ " _ , he declared to seemingly no one. He raised both fists in the air in excitement, celebrating his victory over his supposed superior. This reminded him of something however, his left hand was still missing after the Hard Knuckle was fired. He began muttering something under his breath as he walked towards the direction of his hand.  _ "Stupid Idiot, why couldn't he fix that design flaw and make it fly back to the user? You'd think he would try and improve it after all this time.". _ He slowly walked towards his hand, it's location showing up in his optics as he drew closer. As he made his way there, he took a look at the ruined castle. Pieces of it were scattered across the field, either being charred and burnt, or completely destroyed beyond recognition. As he retrieved his hand and reattached it, something caught his eye. A piece of the gigantic rusted skull-emblem that was placed on the front of the base was lying across from him, semi-shoved into the Earth. He walked over and placed his hand upon it. It finally hit him, not only was he the best robot master...but he was also the  _ only  _ remaining one from the evil Doctor's designs. "...Well, that Navigator lady...Alia was it? After what she heard she's definitely gonna be sending in reinforcements. I might as well sit back and wait for them to come to me.". Bass picked himself up onto the skull-emblem, sitting on top of it. He stared out at the setting sun.  _ "Heh,  _ I guess no matter  when I show up, I can at least count on a few things to stay the same…now, what am I gonna do with Zero's pals when they show up? Should I destroy them, or infect them with the Roboenza viru-". 

Bass was cut off by the sudden movement of his arms being pulled back. "WAIT WHAT?!", he shouted in disbelief as he was lifted upwards. He looked backwards, and in a mix of pure shock and rage, muttered one word.

**_"_ ** **_Y O U ._ ** **_"_ **

It was Zero, using his arms to hold and lock Bass' arms in one position. " **HOW?! I SAW YOU** **_DIE!",_ ** Bass demanded to know from the unyielding warrior as he furiously kicked and tossed himself, trying to break free. "Listen, you may be older than me by a few hundred years, but you don't have  _ nearly  _ as much experience. I've died plenty of times, and I've returned from the dead more than I can count. I  _ know  _ how to make it look convincing,  kid .". Bass was dumbstruck, more so from being called a kid by a half-dead-goodie-two-shoes, yelling and thrashing in an attempt to escape. "I know with me being this close, you won't activate any special weapons, or you'll just get damaged in the process. You can't risk that when Hunter Headquarters is sending their best men here just to battle you.", Zero said smugly. Bass screamed in a furious rage, for he knew that his brother was right. If X and Axl were as strong or even a bit weaker than Zero, any further damage would definitely jeopardize his mission. "SO- **_SO WHAT?!_ ** What're you gonna do,  **_HOLD ME UNTIL THEY GET HERE?!",_ ** he yelled as he began swinging himself with even more fervor than before. "No, I have an even better idea.", Zero said in an ominous tone. While fighting back against the robot master's intense fit of rage, he lifted up one of his arms when the time was right, a green flash emanating from his gauntlet. As Bass continued his attempt to break free, he heard a loud, whirring sound approaching them both from the distance. As he looked in that direction, he saw trees seemingly being cut down in a straight line heading towards them. With the last tree cut, the sound revealed itself, it was the Shield Boomerang Bass had thrown into the forest. "You remember now fin-head? Before you tore off my shield, your little explosive trap going off let it get fully charged. All I had to do was wait until you were open to hold you down and call it back.", Zero said with a grin.  **"YOU** **_IDIOT,_ ** **YOU'LL BE** **DESTROYED** **TOO!",** Bass angrily yelled as he whipped his head around as far as he could to look at his swordsman brother. "I know-", Zero said confidently, "-with this,  _ I'LL FINALLY END THAT MADMAN'S PLANS!".  _ As the shield drew near, Bass tried his absolute hardest to escape, maybe he could manage to duck and let Zero take the full hit?! "Don't bother, I already know what you're thinking.", Zero said unexpectedly. "My movement systems are already locked up from all that damage you caused earlier, I'm not budging. We're seeing this through... _ TOGETHER! _ .". 

As Bass yelled out in one final scream of rage, the light of Shield Boomerang grew brighter and brighter, drawing near. It slammed into Bass' midsection, causing the robot master to screech in pain. The weapon kept going, slowly cutting through and destroying the robot's middle components. He continued screaming as the plasma disc finally sawed it's way clear through him and into Zero, slicing them both cleanly in half. With their upper torsos no longer being connected to their legs, both Bass and Zero fell off the skull-symbol.

" **_N-NO! NO!_ ** **I WAS S-SUPPOSED TO BE THE ULTIMATE ROBOT!** I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE ONE TO-TO COMPLETE HIS FINAL PLAN! I WAS THE-the only one he...he needed…

i'm sorry...i failed you... _ d o c t o r w i l y… _ "

The two fell to the ground with a loud  _ thud.  _ Zero struggled to look over at his brother, barely being able to move his head. His gaze fell upon Bass, his eyes now empty and black, staring upwards at the sky, signaling that he was indeed deactivated. "It shouldn't have ended this way for him-", Zero thought, "-it was clear he had the heart of a warrior...but his core programming made him too far gone. I'm sure he would have made an excellent Hunter...if only he had his own will. I couldn't ensure that he would be the same if I brought him back to HQ to have him upgraded and given will...but he also had to be destroyed to prevent everyone from becoming Maverick again.". Zero felt his energy levels ebbing, and this time it wasn't just for show. "I guess...I guess this really is where I die. At least...at least I know the threat of Wily's evil ambitions have died along with us.". Zero turned himself around, now looking at the same sky as his fallen brother. "This...this world really is beautiful. X...Axl...please ensure that you will take care...of both yourselves, and this  _ w o r l d _ …"

With those words, Zero's eyes also fell dark. He laid with his fellow brother, the two of them being the final remnants of a centuries-long rage held by a single man. With the sun going down, the shadow of the ruined castle behind them began to loom overhead, masking the two in darkness.

  
  
  
  


"He...ero….wa…."

  
  
  
  


"Hey….zer….wak…"

  
  


"HEY ZERO, WAKE UP!"

The surprised maverick hunter lifted himself up on the bed he was rested on with a loud gasp, who was speaking to him? "Hey pal, I thought we lost ya...again.". Zero looked to the side to see Axl, the up-and-coming rookie hunter. "Wait, where am I? Where's Bass?!", Zero said, trying to get out of the bed, only to ache in extreme pain and fall right back down. "Whoa hey chill out, you need to stay in bed while we get your repairs in order!", Axl ordered as he helped his friend back onto the mattress, "You don't even have a pair of legs on ya and you're trying to run off, that's so like you!", the rookie said with a huff. Zero looked down, and it was true, his lower half was still missing. "Alia told us that you were at the sight of a strange base, it exploded, and then some other angry guy yelled in your comlink or something? I dunno, all I knew was that you were in trouble and needed some help.". Zero perked up, "That other guy, were you able to locate him?!". "Oh yeah no prob, he was right there next to you. Must've been a really tough customer if you had to use that  _ stolen _ weapon to beat him.", Axl replied with a mischievous smirk. "HEY I only took it because I knew it would come in handy, and it was a good thing I did too. He had me outmatched in nearly everything except tactics. Where did you put him anyways?", the injured hunter asked the playful sharpshooter. "Ah that Bass guy you yelled about? The R&D guys took him back to the lab, something about using whatever data they could salvage to complete their Time Skimmer project or something like that. Apparently that dude was super ancient, probably as old as you and X!", Axl said while chuckling. "WAIT HE'S IN HERE WITH US?! We have to get him out  _ NOW,  _ he has a strain of the Maverick virus and it was able to turn me back into-". "Whoa whoa HEY relax! We saw that he had an extremely high virus concentration when we entered the area, sure it was going down as time went on since he was taken offline, but we waited until it was non-lethal to enter the base.". Zero remained silent after hearing this news, finally, it truly seemed that the threat of Roboenza, or the Maverick Virus it evolved into, was finally over. 

"Speaking of the virus actually-", Axl suddenly chimed in, "-your vitals didn't show up on our radars until all of Bass' stored virus was completely gone.". A surprised look spread on Zero's face. "I heard from X and a few of the Lifesavers before that the virus actually _ heals  _ you  when you come into contact with it. The medical guys said that might have been the only reason you survived. While Bass was leaking it out, you were taking it right back in.". Zero was speechless, he was inadvertently  _ saved  _ by Bass? Maybe it wasn't an accident, it  _ was  _ possible that he had just enough energy left to direct the flow into Zero before he had gone offline. The swordsman smirked and let out a small chuckle, even after Bass was gone, he technically had a piece of him inside of himself in the form of the virus he had absorbed to come back online. "Maybe the universe isn't done with us Wily robots after all...right brother?", Zero thought as he stared up at the ceiling. "You knooow, you're not off the hook just yet!", Axl interrupted, "I wanna know every little detail,  _ especially  _ how you got that snazzy new set of purple armor!". The comment surprised the hunter, as he had completely forgotten about his corrupted armor. "I guess Bass is a part of me now in more ways than one.", he thought. "OH, I should call up X for a vid-call when you start telling me what happened! You know he would have come here himself, but I bet helping out all of humanity become better acquainted with us Reploids isn't exactly something you could walk away from! Heck, you can't walk away from letting me know what went down without your legs either!", Axl said with a hearty laugh. Zero smirked, "Alright wise-guy, you want to know what happened? Well take a seat and call up X, because this is something that might take a while.".


End file.
